Recent years have evidenced the increasing popularity of small portable electronic calculators. Most of these calculators are operable by battery and/or 115 volt A.C. electric current such as is provided by a normal wall outlet. Most provide battery recharging capabilities. Prices for these calculators vary but suffice it to say that the greater the numerical capabilities of these calculators, the greater their cost. Specialized calculators are even available for use in computations in such fields as engineering, real estate, mathematics, etc.
The portability and compactness of these calculators are prime features of their attractiveness. However, these same features also present drawbacks: the portability and compactness of modern calculators make them easy objects of theft. The result has been that owners of electronic calculators must take care to avoid theft of their calculators by either carrying them on their persons or locking them in their office desks or carrying them home at night. This is obviously not a very efficient solution to the theft problem.
Another problem posed by these portable calculators is that their small size and typically flat shape enable them to be easily covered up and misplaced when laid on a working executive's or student's desk.
These drawbacks and problems are overcome with the present invention, and commercially acceptable embodiments of a securable receptacle and the like are herein provided which are not only fully capable of securing most types of portable calculators, but which are also capable of other tasks, such as serving as a decorative holder and mounting a steno pad or table of formulae.
An advantageous feature of the present invention is its ability to provide an inexpensive theft-preventing receptacle capable of securing a portable electronic calculator to a desk or other immovable object. By so doing, the advantages of compact calculators are made available to a user without the disadvantage of easy misplacement or theft that is typically offered by the compactness and lightness of portable calculators and other small objects.
It is a further feature that the present invention provides for quick and easy insertion and removal of a portable calculator from the receptacle.
It is also a feature of the present invention that in one embodiment the receptacle is movable and positionable for easy access and use while at the same time being secured.
It is a feature to provide a flexible metallic securing lanyard having a button at one end for retaining the receptacle locking means in a locked position and being securable to an immovable object at the other end, and said lanyard requiring total disengagement from the immovable object and subsequent removal from the receptacle before the receptacle locking means may be disengaged.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a keeper means for directly retaining the locking bar in the locked position, said keeper being received in a slot in the locking bar when the locking bar is in the locked position.
It is a further advantageous feature of the present invention that the keeper means is positionable in cooperative relationship with the receptacle wall structure, said wall structure and keeper means having registrable apertures for receiving the lanyard button.
It is also a feature of the present invention in its preferred embodiment that the locking bar is an elongated cylinder rotatable to either a locking position or a releasing position.
These and other features and advantages of the present inventon will become apparent from the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to the Figures in the accompanying drawings.